The mysterious but much-loved birds will be the center of attention at the first Colorado Owl Festival on March 28-29.

Hosted by the Nature and Raptor Center of Pueblo and the Pueblo Zoo, the festival will have activities for children and adults. Night hikes, talks by owl experts, an owl hooting competition and owl crafts and stories are on the agenda.

“People love owls,” says Diana Miller, the raptor center director who’s worked with the birds of prey for 25 years. “I’ll take one out and everyone will go ‘Wow!’ People just seem to be so much more taken with owls than other birds.”

Miller says that might be due to the shape of owls’ faces, which appear flat and almost human-like, with large forward-facing eyes surrounded by round facial discs of feathers.

“Owls are just really cool,” Miller says. “You don’t see them very often — they’re more nocturnal. To see one of them up close helps to break up the mystery surrounding them.”

Owls account for roughly one-third of the sick or injured birds admitted to the raptor center for care. In an average year, that’s 30 or 40 owls, though the numbers of all admissions are down because of the drought, according to Miller.

Four owls are permanent residents at the center: two great horned owls, one western screech owl and one barred owl.

The barred owl typically doesn’t live in Colorado — it’s found farther east in river bottoms — but this bird came from a raptor rehabilitation center in Nebraska. It needed a home, Miller says, and since it’s a cousin of the rare spotted owl which does live here, she thought it would be a good teaching tool.

“It’s just a very mellow owl. It’s great for education,” she says.

In addition to the great horned and western screech owls, the other owls that live here at least part time are the barn owl, burrowing owl, long-eared owl, northern saw-whet owl, northern pygmy owl, and flammulated owl.

Cost is $3 for ages 10 and older for the entire festival, and $25 for an “Evening with the Owls” fundraiser.

Activities also are scheduled at the Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library, where they are free of charge; and the Mountain Park Environmental Center in Beulah.

The Pueblo Chieftain invites local organizations to share photos and information about their recent events of community-wide interest. The free Community Corner feature appears in the Life section on Sundays.

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